


PG

by aSofterPunk



Series: Punk AU [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Familial Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Punk AU, the boys being anxious wrecks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 10:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aSofterPunk/pseuds/aSofterPunk
Summary: The gang meets Roman's parents for the first time. For Virgil and Logan, that's kind of a big thing.





	PG

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the Punk AU- find more at asofterfan.tumblr.com <3

“Look, I KNOW the textbook has some sketchy interpretations-“

“ _‘Sketchy??’_ ” “-BUT I need to pass this class and this is what the teacher wants us to write on!!”

Patton giggled, Virgil smirking quietly next to him as they watched their two friends bicker. Roman and Logan had been arguing about Roman’s history essay for the better part of half an hour. Logan wanted accuracy. Roman wanted a good grade. They were at an impasse.

Logan opened his mouth, eyes fiery and promising another half hour of debate when Patton interrupted, “Maybe we should start on chemistry now instead? And come back to history when we’ve all… cooled down a little,” He smiled amicably even as Roman and Logan continued to glare at each other. Finally they sighed, Roman muttering “fine” as Logan snapped his textbook shut.

The four friends were gathered in Roman’s room, having come to his house to work on their various weekend assignments. Normally they gathered at Logan’s house, but today Roman had insisted, “My parents are out for the day, and you guys still haven’t met Iroh!!” Indeed, while the three were given constant updates and pictures of the red-head’s bearded dragon, they had yet to actually see his pet in person.

So, on Saturday afternoon, they arrived on Roman’s doorstep. 

The tour was just as dramatic as anything Roman did, his bracelets jingling and jacket sweeping with every exaggerated gesture he made. The home was warm, and cozy; family pictures on the walls and evidence of every one of Roman’s hobbies scattered throughout the rooms.

Roman’s bedroom was very much like the boy himself- dramatic. The walls were a rich, dark red, with a small steampunk chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The drapes and bedding were metallic golden hues, and every surface including most of the floor was covered in various notes and sketches and small, half finished projects.

After some time spent waxing poetic about his beautiful lizard (and failing to convince Virgil to hold him), the boys finally cleared a spot on the floor to begin their work. Things had gone mostly smooth until the history assignment came up, but that wasn’t an unusual occurrence among the punks.

Patton smiled contentedly as they all moved to switch out their notebooks for the worksheet they had been assigned in chemistry. But before they could start, they heard the muffled sound of the front door opening.

“Roman! We’re home!” A woman’s voice called out.

Perking up, Roman looked towards the sound as Patton cocked his head curiously, neither noticing how their remaining friends stiffened. “Oh,” Roman smiled, “Mom and dad are home early!”

Logan cleared his throat, moving to gather his notebooks, “I guess we should probably be going then-“

“Nah, you guys are good,” Roman waved his hand dismissively, still looking at the door absently, “They’ll probably invite you to stay for dinner.”

“Really, they won’t mind?” Patton asked excitedly, sitting up straighter and smiling widely at the prospect of getting to hang out longer.

Roman nodded, “Definitely! Oh! And since there’s so many of us they might let us order pizza!” he turned to smile at his friends only for his expression to quickly turn to alarm, “ _VIRGIL!_ ”

Patton and Logan snapped around, following Roman’s gaze to see Virgil standing hunched with one leg out the now open bedroom window. For a moment, they all just stared at each other, Virgil’s eyes wide, his body still halfway out the room, “Um….” his eyes darted around, “I think I left the oven on?”

There was another pause before Logan leapt to his feet, not even bothering to grab his things as he speed walked over to Virgil, “You know, now that you mention it I think I did too. Thank you for having us Roman, we’ll see you on Monday-“

“NO!” Roman rushed over, wrapping his arms around Logan’s waist and physically dragging him away from the window. “Hey!” Logan struggled against Roman’s hold as Patton scrambled to his feel and made his way to Virgil. “Wait, wait, wait, wait!” The pastel haired boy held his hands out, reaching for Virgil but not quite touching him, coaxing gently, “Hold on, just, come back inside, there’s no reason you can’t leave through the front door at least-“ He was interrupted by a loud ’THUD’, turning to find Roman and Logan in a heap on the ground.

Logan screeched indignantly, “Get OFF of me, you oaf!”

“Not until you chill the fuck out, nerd!”

“Roman?”

All four boys froze at the sound of the woman, Roman’s mother, calling from the hallway, “Everything alright? What’s going on?” “He better not be metalworking again, he knows he has to do that in the garage,” a man’s voice chimed in. They could hear footsteps approaching the room.

Scrambling, Roman jumped to his feet, pulling Logan up with him, keeping one hand on his arm even as the blue-haired boy tried to pull away. Virgil was still wide-eyed and frozen on the window sill, so Patton gave a soft, “sorry!” before grabbing the edge of his jacket and pulling him back in, both of them stumbling slightly. Virgil, realizing that there was no escape, rushed to Logan’s side, pulling his hood up and standing half behind him. Patton was just straightening himself up when the door to Roman’s room opened.

A woman entered first, opening the door with a curious expression behind bright red glasses, almost the same shade as her lipstick. She had barely entered when a man pushed in beside her.

“Alright, what property damage are we dealing with this time?” Despite his words, the man’s face held a fond sort of exasperation behind his own wire framed glasses. Standing next to each other, the couple was adorably matching, each wearing a button down with a sweater vest.

Roman smiled widely, releasing his hold on Logan to throw his arms out in excitement, “Mom, dad! You guys are home early!”

His mother smiled sweetly, as his father continued glancing around the room, seemingly searching for some sort of damage, “Yeah, we decided to run errands tomorrow instead of tonight,” she put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow, “I didn’t realize the party would still be going on.”

“Oh, Roman just invited us over to do homework!” Patton chimed in, worried that Roman would get in trouble.

But his father only laughed heartily, “Oh, we know. He told us he’d be having friends over. Besides, the biggest party he ever threw was that time he and his buddies baked cookies while dressed in cosplay.”

“Dad!” The boy in question was steadily turning as red as his hair. He crossed his arms and huffed, trying to look dignified, “I’ll have you know, Dominic, Dahlia and I each got like fifty new Instagram followers from those pictures!”

“Uh huh, of course you did, you nerds,” the older man teased.

Clearing her throat, Roman’s mother looked pointedly at the three teenagers standing to the side, “Ro, are you planning on introducing us to your guests, or…?”

“Oh! Of course! Where are my manners,” Roman bowed dramatically, “These are my dear friends from school, Logan, Virgil, and Patton!” he gestured to each boy in turn.

“Oooooh,” the woman’s eyes lit up, “We’ve heard so much about you all!”

“ _Mom-!_ ”

Ignoring her son’s embarrassment, she continued, “Well it is so nice to finally meet you boys! I’m Dot-“ “And-“ “and this is my husband Larry!”

Larry exhaled, sending his wife a side glance before smiling at the teenagers before him, sweeping his eyes over their multicolored hair, “Incredible. You’re all wearing black and yet you guys still manage to be like, the most hardcore rainbow ever.”

Logan and Virgil exchanged confused, nervous glances while Roman rolled his eyes and Patton gave a cheerful “Thank you!”.

“You said you were working on homework right? How’s everything coming along?”

“Alright, but Logan and I can’t seem to agree on how to complete this dumb history assignment,” Roman sighed dramatically.

“We- we just have differing opinions is all,” Logan mumbled quickly, taking a small step back and bumping into Virgil who was standing directly behind him.

Roman held back a frown of concern as he glanced at his two friends. Patton clearly noticed as well, and smiled at the two adults, “These two always bicker, so it’s nothing unusual. We were just taking a break anyway.”

“Have you boys eaten yet?” Dot asked, “I can whip something up if you’d like.”

“Oh no, that’s alright,” Logan held his hands up stiffly, “we wouldn’t want to bother you, we can just go-“

“You shouldn’t have to cook for so many people, mom!” Roman cut in, “That wouldn’t be fair to you at all!” He stepped forward and dramatically took his mother’s hand, “You work so hard, how could we ask you to slave away in the kitchen for four teenage boys? SURELY there must be a _better way-_ “

“Fine, we can order pizza.” Dot rolled her eyes, smiling at her son’s antics as he cheered, kissing her on the cheek.

“YES! Thanks mom!”

“Thank you Mrs. Stone!” Patton chimed in.

“Are you sure?” “We wouldn’t want to impose-“ “You really don’t have to-“ “We can head out-“ Logan and Virgil spoke at the same time, Logan waving his hands as Virgil shrunk slightly behind him. Roman and Patton swore they each looked three shades paler.

But Dot and Larry both chuckled, “It’s absolutely fine!” Dot assured.

“Yeah, now we get to have pizza!” Larry exclaimed excitedly.

Roman’s attention was suddenly drawn to his father’s right hand, “Whatcha got there, dad?” Roman pointed to what appeared to be a stuffed bear in a Stitch costume.

Larry grinned widely, “I STOLE it!” he held the toy out proudly.

The kids all raised their eyebrows while Dot giggled, linking arms with her husband. “What, for real?” Roman asked, grinning.

“Yup!” Larry beamed, “I told you you got all your punkness from me!”

“Of course he did, Larry,” Dot patted her husbands arm. “Now,” she turned back to the teenagers, “Tell me what toppings I’m getting and then I’ll call while _someone_ gets their sewing supplies off the dining room table,” she sent a pointed glare to Roman.

“Dining room table?” Larry questioned.

“Yes, so we have a place to eat!”

“It’s pizza,” Larry stated incredulously, “we don’t need silverware or anything. And we usually eat in the living room anywa-”

“Larry!” Dot pouted, placing her hands on her hips, “We have guests over! Can we at least try to have a semblance of formality?”

“So now we’re _misleading_ our son’s friends about our lifestyle?” Larry exclaimed, slapping a hand over his heart indignantly, but Roman could see the quirk in his father’s lips, a dead giveaway that everything he was saying was just to tease his wife.

Dot saw it too, rolling her eyes and smirking, “Yes, Larry, I’m determined to pull the wool over their eyes. They’ll never know the truth of how often you drop food on our rug,” winking mischievously, Patton giggled as Larry gasped dramatically.

“Betrayed! By my own wife!”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to forgive me,” Dot chuckled, “Now, what would you boys like? I know Roman and Larry like vegetable, and I usually get pepperoni for myself.”

“I like pepperoni, too!” Patton replied cheerfully.

“Perfect! Logan? Virgil?”

“No preference.” “Either’s fine.” Once more they spoke at the same time, both looking so tense Roman was afraid they’d shatter.

Dot and Larry exchanged a quick glance and Roman could see the shadow of concern on their faces that he was certain was on his own as well before they returned to smiling a them, “Alright then, Roman, you clear off the dining room table and we’ll call you boys when the food gets here.”

“We can help,” Logan blurted out.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, you boys are guests.”

“Besides, it’s Roman’s mess,” Larry smirked as his son pouted.

“It’s really no problem, ma’am,” Logan answered.

Every boy jumped as Dot gasped dramatically, “ _‘MA’AM’??_ ”

Roman snorted while Larry rolled his eyes, Patton giggling to the side. Meanwhile, Logan was frozen in place and it looked like all of the blood had left Virgil’s face.

“Oh my God, Larry,” Dot clutched at her husbands arm, “It’s finally happened- I’m old. I’m just their friend’s _mother_. Is it the grey hairs? Should I dye my hair pink like the doctor’s?”

“Wait what,” Roman questioned.

“I-“ Logan looked lost, “I was just trying to be polite?”

That had Roman and Patton snapping their eyes to their friend. Since when did Logan ever bother being polite?

Dot pouted dramatically, “Well, just call me ‘Dot’. None of that ‘ma’am’ nonsense.”

“I would like to be referred to as ‘your Highness’”

“Dad!” “Larry!” Dot slapped her husbands arm, smirking as he laughed, “Fine, fine, ‘Larry’ will do.”

Chuckling, Dot pulled out her phone, scrolling to find the number of their favorite pizza place. As she and Larry turned to leave, she glanced up and frowned, “Roman, don’t leave your window open when we have the air conditioning on, it’s expensive.”

Virgil’s eyes widened guiltily. “Oh, uh, sorry about that!” Roman answered quickly, running to shut the window before the teenagers followed the adults downstairs. Dot was already chatting into the phone, reciting their order. As they reached the first floor, Larry turned and grinned.

“Did Roman already give the Grand Tour?” Larry asked, one hand thrown in the air in a perfect imitation of Roman’s dramatic gesture, making Patton laugh and Virgil snort into his hand as the red-head made offended princey noises.

“He did, and it was indeed grand,” Patton ruffled Roman’s hair, causing him to sputter indignantly.

“Cruel!” He cried, smoothing back his hair, “I have done nothing to deserve this treatment!”

“I mean, there was that one time-“

“DAD!”

Larry laughed heartily, immediately messing his son’s hair up again, “Go clear the table off, punk.”

Roman grumbled, glaring at his friends who were snickering at him and leading them into the dining room as Larry followed after his wife. Entering the room, Patton immediately saw what Roman’s mother had been talking about. There was a large sewing machine on the circular table, surrounded by different fabrics, a box overflowing with needles, thread, and measuring tape taking up one of the chairs, along with half finished garments draped over the others. Sighing dramatically, Roman moved to hoist the sewing machine up, moving to put in in the corner as his friends began carefully picking up the various fabrics.

“I’d ask if you have any semblance of organization for these, but I already know the answer,” Logan deadpanned, tossing clothes over his arm.

“It is to organized!” Roman huffed, “Everything in this room is what I’m currently working on. There. Organized.”

Patton giggled as he gathered up Roman’s supplies, Virgil carefully folding a partially completed jacket next to him. However his smile dropped when he noticed the purple haired boy glancing at the window across from him, and how he and Logan seemed to be exchanging glances in a silent conversation.

Roman noticed too, frowning as he dropped the fabric in his hands and crossed his arms, “Alright, what is up with you two?”

The two in question both jumped slightly. Logan narrowed his eyes, “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Okay, no. You do _not_ get to play dumb when you guys literally tried to jump out my bedroom window ten minutes ago!” Roman’s face held a mix of frustration and concern, “Seriously, what’s your deal?”

Virgil shuffled in place, “We just…. weren’t expecting to meet your parents today.”

“So?”

“It’s…. stressful.”

“If anyone should be stressed it’s _me_. Do you have any idea the kind of blackmail those two have on me? They’ve known me my entire life, they’ve seen some shit,” Roman’s eyes widened, “Oh God, I should hide the photo albums…”

“You guys don’t need to be nervous,” Patton chimed in, confused, “I mean it’s just his parents.”

Logan and Virgil exchanged another glance, everything about them communicating that Patton’s words had not comforted them at all. Suddenly, Patton and Roman became acutely aware of the fact that they had never met either boy’s parents. They barely even spoke of them.

“Right. Of course.” Logan mumbled, returning to his task. The conversation dropped, and the boys continued clearing off the table, bickering jokingly with each other and eventually hauling the piles of projects back up to Roman’s room, leaving the sewing machine in the corner. Patton was laughing at some joke Roman had made when they heard the doorbell ring. A few moments later Dot called up the stairs, “Boys! Food is here!”

“Finally, I’m starving!” Roman rushed from the room, quickly followed by the rest of the punks. Downstairs the arrived just as Dot was handing three boxes of pizza to her husband.

“You boys head into the dining room, I’m just going to grab some plates and napkins for everyone.”

Roman suddenly perked up as something occurred to him, “Oh! I’ll help!” he offered enthusiastically. Dot raised an eyebrow, but thanked him as they both moved into the kitchen. As the others moved to the dining room, Patton glanced back to see Roman whispering something, his hands moving frantically as his mother frowned. That was all he saw before they turned into the next room.

“Oh, is this what our table looks like? I’d forgotten,” Larry teased as he set the boxes down, lining them up down the table so he could see what kind each was- it turned out Dot had ordered vegetable, pepperoni, and a plain cheese. A moment later, Dot and Roman returned, handing out plates and placing a large pile of napkins on the table, as well as some sodas and waters. Soon they were all seated with food in front of them.

“Thank you again for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Stone!” Patton exclaimed cheerfully.

“Oh, it’s our pleasure,” Larry replied around a mouthful of pizza.

“Ew, Larry! Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Dot slapped her husbands arm. Turning back to the kids, she smiled, “It really is no problem! You boys are welcome anytime!”

Patton smiled, looking around the table. Dot and Larry were seated next to each other, with Roman on Dot’s right, followed by Patton, Virgil, and Logan, before circling back to Larry. There was a short lull in the conversation as they all munched happily. Well, most of them. Logan seemed to be eating almost mechanically, and Virgil nibbled on his slice slowly. Patton noticed that Logan was eating with his right hand, and Virgil with his left, with their other arms seemingly hanging at their sides. But he would bet money that their hands were clasped together beneath the table.

Taking a sip of her soda, Dot smiled at the group, “It’s so nice to finally meet you all! You really are an eclectic bunch, so it’s nice to get a chance to know you all better!” She turned to look at Logan, “And I must say it’s nice to finally meet the boy who saved our son’s algebra grade! You really must be something else, you managed to help our Ro more than I ever have!”

“O-oh, um, well, I-“

Roman choked on his drink.

Coughing, he and Patton both looked across the table, sure that they must be mistaken somehow. But no, Logan was sitting there, cheeks pink, eyes wide, hand wringing a paper napkin.

_Speechless._

Logan was _never_ speechless. Logan had an opinion on anything and everything and he would tell you, loudly and with more words than necessary and often over enunciated. Roman had never heard Logan so much as stutter before, let alone be so completely tongue-tied as he was right now. And…. why? Because of a, in Roman’s opinion, mild compliment from his mother?

“Honestly mom, I think you were always too nice to me,” Roman chimed in when Logan continued to gape like a fish, “With Lo I feel like if I don’t pay attention he might actually murder me.”

“I told you you were coddling him too much,” Larry elbowed his wife gently.

“Well _excuse_ me for being gentle with our baby boy.”

“Mom!” Roman hissed, “I have a reputation!”

“You do?” Virgil asked sarcastically.

Logan broke from his stupor, shaking his head slightly, “Oh yes,” he smirked as he leaned towards Virgil conspiratorially, “He’s got quite the reputation for being a drama queen.”

Roman sputtered indignantly as the table burst into laughs and snickers. “Unbelievable! My own friends and family! You wound me!” Patton giggled, patting his shoulder lightly. After a moment though, Roman perked back up, “Oh! Mom! You’re a teacher-“

Logan inhaled sharply, immediately coughing harshly as he choked on a piece of pizza. The table turned to look at him in concern, Virgil patting his back until he was able to take a sip of water, “Sorry, sorry, uh, swallowed that wrong.”

Frowning, Roman reluctantly turned away to continue talking with his mom, “Uh, right, so, I’ve told you about our history teacher and how the stuff he teaches is pretty stereotypically whitewashed, censored, etc?”

Dot rolled her eyes, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen your text book.”

Grinning, Roman puffed out his chest, gesturing grandly at the blue haired boy across from him, “Well, Logan is the one who never lets him get away with it! He calls him out on _everything._ ”

As Dot turned to look at him, Logan seemed frozen in place. Beside him, Virgil looked ready to toss his friend over his shoulder and bolt. Luckily, before he had a chance to do so, Dot smiled brightly at Logan, “Is that so? Good for you! I know correcting teachers can be scary, especially if they’re not open minded. You’re very brave to stand up to him like that.”

Roman and Patton could practically hear the Windows error noise coming from Logan.

“I-I don’t…. um, I mean, t-thank you, m-, Mrs. Stone.”

“Just Dot is fine, dear,” she smiled warmly.

There was another comfortable lapse of silence before returning to casual conversation. Patton asked more about Dot’s job at the middle school, and found out that she had his little brother Thomas in one of her English classes. Larry talked about some of the crazy people he’s dealt with at the movie theater where he works as a manager, Roman chiming in with stories of his own about messing with his dad at work. Logan and Virgil were mostly quiet, humming occasionally in response to something or chuckling at their friend’s antics.

Despite their attempts to go unnoticed though, Dot eventually turned to the purple haired goth, “Oh, Virgil,” she smiled warmly even as he stiffened in his seat at the attention, “Roman told us you two are planning on doing a piece together! I can’t wait to see what you boys come up with!”

“Yeah, you’re stuff is awesome!” Larry chimed in, “When we were first looking around town I thought it was the most boring place I’d ever seen-“ “Here he goes…” Dot sighed as Larry continued, “No character! Every building the same cookie-cutter outline as the last. Two Starbucks _across the street from each other!!_ But then we started seeing this wild graffiti art, and I was like, FINALLY” Logan and Virgil jumped at the man’s exclamation, Dot and Roman sighing as Patton giggled, “some color in this town! Some personality!”

Virgil glanced at Logan, his eyes wide and confused. Logan could only shrug helplessly.

Dot shook her head fondly, “Needless to say, my husband appreciates your work. I’m pretty sure the mural on Irving Avenue is his favorite piece of art ever.”

“Now don’t be ridiculous, Dot,” Larry rolled his eyes, smirking, “ _You’re my favorite piece of art._ ”

“Awwwwwwww, Larry!” Dot giggled, shoving her husband playfully. Roman groaned, burying his face in his hands and sinking into his seat at his parents absurd flirting. Patton squealed quietly at the cuteness.

Larry turned back to Virgil, “But seriously, your stuff is great. How long have you been taking art classes?”

“U-um, well….” Virgil seemed to shrink in his seat, his voice soft and hesitant, “I started taking classes at s-school last year. But, um, but I’ve just sort of drawn and, and painted on my own since I was a kid…”

“So you’re mostly self taught?” Larry’s eyebrows rose dramatically, “That’s incredible!”

“I, I mean, I’m not that great. Roman is way better…”

“Now don’t go bringing yourself down by comparing yourself to others,” Dot chided gently, “You and Roman both have very distinct styles with your art; You can’t really call either of you better or worse because you make such different things!” She reached over to pinch Roman’s cheek, “You’re BOTH talented!”

“Moooooom!” Roman whined, pulling away from her grip.

But across the table, Virgil’s cheeks were dusted with pink and his eyes were wide with something like disbelief, “O-oh. T-thank, thank you, ma’am.”

“Dot,” she reiterated with a smile, winking and she took a bite of her pizza.

Rubbing at his cheek, Roman glanced across at Logan and Virgil. They still looked overwhelmed, and confused, which made something in Roman’s chest tighten, but they looked less terrified than they had at the beginning of the night, so Roman counted it as a win.

Eventually, the meal came to an end, Dot carrying the leftovers into the kitchen, and despite the boys’ offers to help clear the table, Larry waved them off, “It’s fine, that’s why we have Roman.”

“Hey!”

The boys quickly gathered their things from Roman’s room. Patton sent a quick text to his mom before turning back to the Stones, “My mom says she’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. Thank you very much again for having us!”

“Of course!” Dot walked out of the kitchen, carrying three things of tinfoil, “Here you go, boys! Some leftovers for you to take home.”

“Thank you!” Patton grinned.

Logan and Virgil both looked taken aback as she handed then their slices, “Are you sure? You don’t have to….” Logan attempted to hand his back, but Dot waved him away.

“You and Virgil only had one slice each! Besides, we don’t need that many leftovers around the house. It’ll just give Larry another excuse to skip his turn making dinner.”

“I’ll have you know, all of my excuses have been perfectly acceptable!” Larry huffed.

“Thank you,” Virgil muttered, soft but sincere, slipping the food into his backpack.

“Are you boys getting rides?” the older man inquired.

Logan shook his head, “No, we’re just walking. I-… Neither of us live very far from here.”

“Alright, well, be sure to text Roman once you’re home so we know you’re safe, okay?”

“Um,” Fiddling with his glasses, Logan blinked in surprise, “Yeah, of course.”

“Good,” Dot opened her arms, gesturing Logan towards her when he stayed rooted to the spot, “This is a hugging household, come on now!”

Hesitantly, Logan stepped into her embrace. Surprisingly, Dot’s hug was very gentle, her arms hanging loosely around his frame and her hands rubbing his back softly, “It was so nice to meet you,” She smiled as she pulled away, patting his cheek affectionately. Logan’s ears were bright red, his hands coming up to fidget with his glasses again.

“Y-you too. Um, thanks.”

Next she turned to Virgil, opening her arms again, “May I give you a hug too, Virgil?”

“Um,” he glanced at Logan, the two having a silent conversation before the anxious boy stepped forward. Just as she had been with Logan, Dot’s hug was light and soft, not putting any pressure on the teen.

“You boys come back anytime, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am,” “Thank you, ma’am.” The two punks blushed, both at their simultaneous replies and at calling the woman ‘ma’am’ again.

Dot only chuckled, “We’ll work on that.”

To Roman’s delight, his two friends, though still red faced and uncharacteristically shy, both smiled genuinely, waving to the group and saying goodbye as they departed. Just as the door closed Roman saw them holding hands.

Sighing in contentment, Roman turned to the remaining group, “What a night, huh?”

“Uh, Roman?”

Glancing at his father, Larry merely pointed to the pastel boy still standing in their entryway.

When he turned to his friend, Roman did a double-take, “Patton are you crying??”

The pastel boy rubbed at his face, sniffling, “We’re doing homework at my house next week!”

Dot gave him an extra long hug.


End file.
